2005

This article summarizes a presentation by Sharyn Lee, CEO and cofounder of Medical Educational Broadcast Network (MEBN), a medical education communications and publishing company, who spoke on outcomes-based CME and the importance of selecting the best assessment tool at a recent Medical Education Congress.

What if pharmaceutical companies actually listened to these physicians? Instead of talking about gaining physician access by sales reps, pharmaceutical companies might provide more access to the kind of representative physicians seem to want -- the medical science liaison or MSL.

Several recent surveys indicate that pharmaceutical companies will spend more money on e-mail marketing to consumers in 2005. Perhaps they should also spend some money and time to ensure that their email campaigns adhere to emerging best practices with regard to privacy, HIPAA, SPAM, and permission-based marketing.

This article reviews Q2 Audit, a new company and an industry-standard measure of marketing effectiveness.

This article reviews Lathian Systems' online solutions that are designed to help pharma companies capture the interest, gain the access, and obtain the time required to deliver effective educational programs to physicians.

Six Sigma and Lean have been used for more than two decades to improve manufacturing operations in every industry around the world. This interview with an industry expert offers insights on how Six Sigma and Lean principles can be applied to improve efficiencies in pharmaceutical sales and marketing.

Johnson & Johnson is unveiling a new approach to TV and print campaigns that deals head-on with safety, putting drug risks on more-equal footing with drug benefits. This article summarizes the results of a survey about whether or not the rest of the pharma industry should follow J&J's lead.

The pharmaceutical industry should not be caught undermining the 'Chinese wall' between editorial content and advertising that reputable media take pains to maintain. Especially considering that the pharma industry itself has been accused of a less than stellar record of maintaining separation between education and promotion to physicians and consumers.

Realizing the limitations of the printed package insert (PI), Wellscape, a technology company that provides software solutions designed to improve patient care has developed Smart-PI, which distills complex prescribing information and packages it in portable, stand-alone real-time tools accessible from web sites and available for desktop and Tablet PCs and PDAs.

Pharmaceutical marketers can generate significant interest in a drug before it is officially launched. This is often done by supporting educational CME programs for physicians, employing key opinion leaders, sponsoring satellite symposia at major medical meetings, and publishing clinical trial results.